指着和尚骂秃子

1. • lit. to insult a bald man while pointing at a monk (idiom)
2. • fig. to insult indirectly
3. • to criticize obliquely

Character by character

• 指(zhǐ)finger
• 着(zhe)aspect particle indicating action in progress or ongoing state
• 和(hé)and
• 尚(shang)surname Shang
• 骂(mà)scold
• 秃(tū)bald
• 子(zi)noun suffix, as in 椅子 yǐzi "chair"